29

I turned 29 on Saturday.

Today, I decided to look through 'things to do before you're 30' lists, with the intention of compiling a super-list.

The lists were pretty predictable though and mostly centred around going 'against' something. Against your better judgement; against conformity; against character. There was a whiff of mid-life crisis about them - a sense that the reader will definitely be unhappy with his life so far and should follow any action that changes things.

I'm pretty happy with my life so far though. So the 'before you're 30' list got binned.

The culture of 'not wanting to miss out' annoys me sometimes. If I was going to be pretentious, I would say it reminds me of the sentiment behind Xavier De Maistre's Voyage autour de ma chambre.

But I won't. Instead, I'll sum up with a quote from Eddie Murphy during his stand-up show, Delirious in 1983:

"Any 18-year olds in here?"
[Young whooping from the audience]
"Y'all don't know how to fuck yet."